9 Tips to writing good homepage content

Content written for the web needs style, and learning to present the right homepage content can make your page more effective an interesting. Writing a catchy homepage is purely your choice. You can either opt to devote time and effort to create a great homepage that will hatch a reputable brand or select the easy path of writing general content which only wastes your time, energy and resources.

Regardless of your niche, therefore, you have one chance and just a few lines to impress your prospective visitors. An igniting homepage carries more than simple bullet points, catchy titles and marketing pamphlets. It starts with a clear understanding of when and how you should draft the content. Consider the following insight:

When to write the homepage

A number of people will tend to start with the homepage whenever they are creating a website, a step that throws them off balance. Start by building the website and proceed to the homepage when:

You have settled on the best niche

You have studied your target audience and anticipated their concerns

You have selected the most appropriate language as well as expressions

You have researched and settled on the right keyword phrases

Once you have undertaken these measures, it becomes relatively easier to write a homepage. Even so, the aim is to write an attractive homepage and not ordinary stuff. So how do you go about it? Read on……

Invest all your resources on the title

The title of your homepage is the opening line that will explicitly give an idea of what your website is all about. This is where you have to wear the readers’ shoes and use the kind of title that will welcome and keep them around at least for some time. Besides making the title precise and focused, therefore, use the exact keyword phrases that are well researched. After reading the title, readers should feel confident that they have found what they were looking for.

Pay attention to the graphic elements

No matter how simple you want a website to be, the homepage will speak a lot if you go an extra mile and equip it with the right graphics. The touch and feel of graphic elements define the atmosphere. A simple picture on the homepage will provide a background feeling regarding the topic or subject. This is where you remain savvy and only provide a slight glimpse through pictures and other graphic elements. If the picture on your homepage is rather too descriptive, the reader may have a clue of what your site is all about even without reading the content. Create curiosity and a welcoming atmosphere that will encourage readers to proceed even as they try to contemplate the solutions and answers that you are out to offer.

Make it original

Apart from words and phrases, the ideas appearing in your homepage should be original if at all you want to stand out from the rest of the world. If you rehearse other people’s content from time to time, it defeats the purpose of writing content. Similarly, not a single reader will identify with and link to your content if they have seen the same idea somewhere. If you have nothing meaningful to say, it is better not to say it at all.

Focus on quality, not fluff

Resist the temptation of writing with a marketing tone on your homepage. You are not trying to impress visitors by creating long paragraphs and sentences filled with fluff. This is the only chance you have to electrify your visitors through precise and meaningful content. Provide value in every sentence that you put down rather than trying to push for sales. You rather have two paragraphs that carry meaning instead of an entire page that repeats and insists on the same idea. If writing is not your best bet, the biggest favor you can do is hire an experienced writer to draft the homepage content on your behalf.

Pay attention to your audience and not search engines

It is true that search engines have become highly discriminatory and demanding these days but you should have it in mind that the ultimate end is your reader. While it is important to optimize your content for search engines, never do it at the expense of readers because you will lose a couple of them. As you use particular keywords, therefore, do it sparingly. Use them to present the subject but not in a way that your reader will see more of search engine optimization than what they actually need. Ideally, repeating the same phrase in a sentence is too much. On the other hand, using a keyword phrase more than twice in a single paragraph will not serve you well.

Maintain accuracy

Inaccuracy can damage any company/business reputation regardless of how established that particular brand is. As a business owner, you must be ready to stand by what you present in your homepage. If you have chosen to go by facts, ensure they are accurate. Remember, not all readers are dummies. Some will pay attention to subtle details such as dates and locations. Since a homepage is meant to be a true reflection of your business, ensure there is a way you can verify all the statistics that are up for use on the homepage. Accuracy will help you capture the readers’ trust, a reason why you ought to exercise a high degree of discretion.

Provide answers and solutions

People visiting your homepage will have problems to which they need solutions or rather questions which ought to be answered. This is what you should contemplate before writing the homepage. What are you offering as a business and how will it help the visitor. Anticipate the problem and within the first few lines, explain what you offer and the relation that it has with their questions and problems. If you cannot provide solutions, therefore, never miss answers because this will render your website and therefore business meaningless.

Engage your visitors actively

A homepage should be thought-provoking in order for it to keep the visitor around for some time. Engaging content will start with an effective and promising introduction. People are very quick in passing judgments after reading the first few sentences. This is where you need to challenge them by appealing to their needs. Ask questions, or use something like an anecdote to jog their thoughts.

In summary, there are several guidelines that go into creation of a wonderful homepage. Besides coming up with the content itself, attention should be given to the grammar and syntax. Besides these, there is need to update the information from time to time so that it remains relevant to the audience.

With the above proven tips, be sure that you will never have it wrong when it comes to the establishment of a homepage.

What are some of your techniques to writing homepage content? Respond in the comments below.

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